Slicing mechanism



April 17, 1934. c, ARDY 1,955,458

smcme mscxmnzsu F 119d June 2. 1931 IN I W WW 11mm b INVENTOR C Orles Har Patented Apr. 17, 1934 UNiTEB STATES PATENT OFFlCE Belmet Products, Inc.,

poration of New York Brooklyn, N. Y., a cor- Application June 2, 1931, Serial No. 541,562

4 Claims.

This invention relates to slicing mechanism and more particularly to such a mechanism combined with a dish for catching the juice and drippings therefrom.

A known form of slicing mechanism is designed to facilitate slicing vegetables such as tomatoes and the like, and includes multiple slicing blades moved by a single handle and a usually metallic pedestal on which the blades are mounted and by which the substance to be sliced is supported. The said slicing mechanism may be mounted on a. ceramic dish which acts as a base for the slicing mechanism and which also serves to catch the juice and drippings expressed by the slicing mechanism. In order to permit recovery of this juice and cleaning of the mechanism and dish, the mechanism and dish are sometimes detachably connected together so that they may be separated after the slicing operation.

Some of the objects of the present invention are to generally simplify and cheapen the mode of attachment of the slicing mechanism to the ceramic dish-like base, and to further facilitate assembling and disassembling the slicing mechanism and base during use. As heretofore constructed, the base, although generally made of ceramic material, included metal portions, particularly a metal ring arranged on the inside periphery of the base and cemented thereto, which ring included locking members of any preferred type for engaging mating locking means on the slicing mechanism. In accordance with the present invention the base is made wholly of porcelain or clay or other ceramic material, and consists only of a single integrally formed body of the same. The addition of metal parts and the use of cement or other attaching substances are entirely dispensed with. Specifically, the base of the slicing mechanism and the inner periphery of the ceramic dish are provided with mating slot and detent members for detachably attaching the same together. As will later be shown, this simplifies the construction of the slicing mechanism and of the dish, and facilitates the act of assembling and disassembling the mechanism from the dish.

With slicing mechanisms as heretofore constructed, difiiculty sometimes arose, and housewives were frequently reluctant to use the juice collected in the dish because of contamination of the same by reason of the metal parts of the base and more particularly by reason of the cement used to secure the same to the ceramic dish. A further object of the present invention is to overcome this difiiculty and to prevent contamina tion of the collected juice, and it will be evident that this object is fulfilled by the construction already outlined in which the base is made wholly of ceramic material.

The ceramic dish or base of the slicing mechanism is rather large in diameter and consequently it is found troublesome to spill the juice therefrom accurately into a vessel in which it is to be placed. Accordingly, still another object of this invention is to overcome this diiiiculty, which may be done by providing the dish with means acting as a spout or guide when pouring the collected juice therefrom. In simplest form the desired result may be obtained by making the locking means between the slicing mechanism and the dish in the form of one or more outwardly struck locking members on the slicing mechanism and an inwardly projecting ceramic bead on the base or dish beneath which the locking members are held. This bead may be made discontinuous and provided with one or more solts which permit the locking members to pass there through and thereby facilitate assembly and disassembly of the slicing mechanism and dish. At the same time these slots are inherently adapted to act as a guide When pouring collected juice from the dish.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my invention resides in the apparatus elements and their relation one to the other as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a slicing mechanism embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a partially sectioned vertical elevation taken in the plane of the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail taken in section in the plane of the line 33 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing an applied feature of the base.

Referring to the drawing, the apparatus of my invention comprises a slicing mechanism generally designated A, and a ceramic dish or base generally designated B. The slicing mechanism A may be of conventional type comprising a plurality of knives or cutting blades, two of which are pivoted for oscillating movement about a stationary pin 4. The opposite ends of the blades 2 are connected together by another and preferably similar pin 6 to which any appropriate operating handle 8 is fixedly attached. The fulcrum pin 4 is anchored in a pair of upright arms 10 which are in turn attached to an annular flange 12 of a metal pedestal generally indicated by the numeral 14. This attachment may most simply be accomplished by forming the upright members 10 as the legs of a single U-shaped piece of metal the horizontal portion 16 of which is bolted directly to the annular flange 12 by at taching means such as the bolts 18.

The metallic pedestal 14 comprises an inverted cup-shaped member 20 the top 21 of which is formed concavely or crater-like, as is indicated by the shading in Fig. 1, so that it is adapted to receive and support the vegetable or other substance to be sliced. This support is provided with a series of slots 22 which receive the blades 2 and permit the same to pass entirely and cleanly through the material being sliced.

The cup-shaped member 20 is forced onto and secured to an outwardly expanded bottom mei ber 24 the upper end 26 of which takes the form of a cylindrical flange for receiving the inverted cup-shaped member 26, and the lower portion of which expands outwardly to form, first, the horizontal annular flange 12, and then a cylindrical portion 28 which is placed into and is received by a ceramic dish or base B.

The seramic dish or base B is made wholly of porcelain or clay or ceramic material, and contains no metal parts and utilizes no cement or similar attaching substances. The slicing mechanism A and the base B are detachably attachable together, and are provided with mating means 30 and 32 for locking the same together. These mating means preferably take the form of outwardly struck locking members 39 formed on the cylindrical portion 28 of the pedestal l4, and an inwardly projecting ceramic bead 32 extending entirely around the inner periphery of the base B and beneath which bead the locking members 30 are held.

In order to facilitate rapid assembly and disassembly of the mechanism A and base B, this bead 32 may be made discontinuous and provided with slots 34 which permit the locking members 30 to pass therethrough. It will be under-- stood without further explanation that to assemble the mechanism A and base 3, it is merely necessary to deposit the mechanism A on base B with the locking members 30 aligned with the slots 34, and to thereafter turn the mechanism A somewhat to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, for example, at which time the same are secured together.

After the substance, which may be a vegetable such as a tomato, has been sliced, the handle 8 is elevated and the sliced vegetable removed. If several are to be sliced, they may be applied to the machine in rapid succession. When the slicing operation is completed, the mechanism A is turned until the locking members 30 are aligned with the slots 34, at which time the mechanism is readily removed from the dish. The juice may then be poured out of the dish into any suitable container, During this pouring operation either of the slots 34 may be used as a guide to localize the juice spilled from the dish, as is evident in Fig. 4. This feature is important because of the large diameter of the dish which would otherwise permit the juice to spill in a broad and unconfined stream.

It should be noted that because of the absence of cemented parts anywhere on the ceramic base B, the juice collected therein is uncontaminated and perfectly pure in content and fiavor. The ceramic base is in fact practically a dish of the conventional type used as a platter, and it may,

if desired, be employed for that purpose, that is, after the slicing mechanism has been removed, the base may be used as a dish.

The many advantages of my novel slicing machine, and particularly of the novel mode of attachment of the slicing mechanism and the base therefor, will, it is thought, be apparent from the foregoing detailed description thereof. The mechanism for detachably locking the slicing mechanism and base together is simplified to an extraordinary degree and is correspondingly cheapened during manufacture. The mechanism and base are readily put together and taken apart. The juice collected by the dish is not contaminated in any way and may be spilled from the dish in an accurate and confined manner. The dish is itself utilizable for purposes other than as the base of the slicing mechanism.

It will be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in the preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a slicing mechanism including a pedestal and a wholly ceramic dish adapted to act as a base for the aforesaid mechanism and to receive and usefully collect the juice and drippings expressed thereby, the base of said pedestal being cylindrical and provided with an outwardly struck locking member, and the inner periphery of the aforesaid ceramic dish being circular and provided with an inwardly projecting ceramic bead beneath which the locking member is held, said bead being discontinuous and provided with a slot adapted to act as a guide when pouring the collected juice from the dish.

2. In combination, a slicing mechanism and a wholly ceramic dish for usefully collecting juice expressed by the slicing mechanism, the base of said slicing mechanism being provided with a plurality of outwardly struck locking members, and the inner periphery of the aforesaid ceramic dish being provided with an inwardly projecting ceramic bead beneath which the locking members are held, said bead being discontinuous and provided with slots permitting the locking members to pass therethrough and thereby facilitating assembly and disassembly of the slicing mechanism and dish.

3. In combination, a slicing mechanism including multiple slicing blades and a metallic pedestal on which the blades are mounted and by which the substance to be sliced is supported, and a wholly ceramic dish adapted to act as a base for the aforesaid pedestal and to receive the juice and drippings expressed thereby, the base of said pedestal being cylindrical and provided with a plurality of outwardly struck locking members, and the inner periphery of the aforesaid ceramic dish being provided with an inwardly projecting ceramic bead beneath which the locking members are held, said bead beingdiscontinuous and provided with slots permitting the locking members to pass therethrough and thereby facilitating assembly and disassembly of the slicing mechanism and dish, the said slots also being adapted to act as a guide when pouring the collected juice from the dish.

4. In combination, a slicing mechanism for slicing vegetables such as tomatoes and the like, including multiple slicing blades and a metallic pedestal on which the blades are mounted and by which the substance to be sliced is supported, said pedestal flaring outwardly and downwardly to form a relatively large circular edge, and a circular ceramic dish of substantial depth acting as a base for said slicing mechanism and for usefully collecting a large quantity of juice and drippings expressed thereby, said dish being made wholly of a single integral body of ceramic material and being provided with holding means 

